From where Storm Border had made its forced landing to the secluded home of the Deinos Tepeu, it was a little over ten kilometers on foot.
Fortunately, Sakura and the others had already explored the area earlier and roughly mapped out a usable route. Shiomi and the rest only needed to follow that path to reach their destination more quickly.
To avoid misunderstandings, Baobhan Sith came along as well, climbing the horn-shaped rocky mountain with them.
Knowing that Chaldea would return, Tepeu did not hide this time. Instead, he simply waited inside the cave where he lived.
When he heard Baobhan Sith greeting him, he stepped out to welcome them and invited everyone inside.
"It's still quite astonishing," Shiomi said. "Our vocal cords and even the wavelengths of our voices should be completely different, yet we can talk to each other normally. That's already beyond something that could be explained by the level of civilization the Deinos possess."
"As I explained before, this is Maya's cognitive correction applied to the world," Tepeu said in an orderly manner. "Previously, when a new culture came to our world, it came in the form of beings called Crypters. Maya analyzed the language he used and the framework of his cognition, then tuned things so we could communicate on the same level of meaning."
The Crypter he referred to was most likely Daybit Sem Void.
"Maya?" Skadi asked, puzzled.
But what the others were more concerned about was the existence called Maya itself.
"Maya are not human," Tepeu said, though even he seemed to struggle a little to explain it. "They are life, but… how should I put it… they are the 'goodwill' of your world. The 'emotion' that allows the world to function more smoothly."
It was like trying to explain why humans needed to breathe. Because the world requires it. Because it is necessary for survival. Something that simply exists as a matter of course.
"Is it the primate suppression force of this Lostbelt?" Aesc asked.
"Not a suppression force," Tepeu replied. "But it is indeed the foundation of this subterranean world, Mictlan. The origin of everything here, and the principle that guides it."
Shiomi nodded.
"Then it's basically the 'god' of this place."
"God?" Tepeu looked slightly surprised at Shiomi's choice of words.
"To be precise, it's something that originally existed and gradually became a deity through natural transformation," Shiomi said.
Proper Human History does not have something called Maya, but it does have something very similar.
"What do you mean, my disciple?" Scáthach asked.
"Did you forget, Master? Some of the gods of South America," Shiomi replied. "After obtaining a divine nature, I also gained the perspective that comes with being a god. Because of that, I learned quite a few of the inside stories about gods. That includes the truth behind some South American deities."
His words immediately drew everyone's interest.
Tepeu was equally intrigued.
"Could you explain that part in more detail?"
"It's actually not that complicated," Shiomi said calmly. "Many South American gods are somewhat similar to the Greek gods. They are extraterrestrial lifeforms that came from space. However, they are not machine gods. Instead, they are a collective that parasitizes plants and fungi, expanding a survival network. They are generally called 'Divine Filament.'"
"Of course, they themselves do not possess the ability to think," he continued. "But by parasitizing other lifeforms, they can carry out intelligent activity."
"When did they arrive on this planet?" Baobhan Sith asked curiously.
This was knowledge her father had never told her before.
"In Proper Human History, they most likely arrived along with the meteorite that fell on the Yucatan Peninsula sixty-six million years ago," Shiomi said. "After that, they mainly parasitized plants and gradually spread across Central and South America."
"When they parasitized humans, they were worshipped and enshrined as beings called 'gods.'"
At that point, he smiled slightly.
"The Aztec gods we once encountered, the pantheon to which Quetzalcoatl belongs, were formed through that kind of tradition."
That was also why Quetzalcoatl had strongly opposed Tiamat back then.
This planet had finally given birth to life capable of expressing individuality, yet it would be forced to abandon that individuality and return to the collective.
Thinking about it now, that might have been the consensus the Aztec gods formed after watching humanity's ancestors from ancient times, seeing them evolve and multiply until they became the planet's primates.
Their attitudes toward humanity might differ among the Aztec gods, but the fundamental logic behind them was almost the same.
"So you believe Maya is this Lostbelt itself, this subterranean world of Mictlan, where the Aztec gods who never became true deities due to the absence of humanity exist in a special form?" Tepeu said, adjusting his glasses. "Hmm. There is some logic to that. Still, I cannot confirm or deny it, so allow me to reserve judgment."
"It's not just that," Shiomi continued. "Before we entered the underground world, we confirmed that the continents in this Lostbelt form a single unified landmass."
He operated one of Chaldea's instruments, projecting two maps into the air.
One showed the seven continents of Proper Human History.
The other showed the supercontinent of the Lostbelt.
"Considering Maya's nature, it's possible that because the dinosaurs in this world never went extinct sixty-five million years ago, Maya chose the Deinos instead of mammals," Shiomi said, pointing at the maps. "That's why you became the 'humans' and the 'primates' of this world."
"And the reason the continents of this Lostbelt never split apart or drifted is likely also Maya's influence. It probably prevented continental drift from occurring in the first place."
"Just from the information Mr. Tepeu provided, you were able to infer the fundamental nature of this world's formation," Aesc said with clear pride. "As expected of my husband."
Skadi puffed out her cheeks.
"I'm a goddess too. So why don't I have this kind of perspective? Why can't I see the truths behind other mythologies?"
"Well…" Shiomi hesitated, unable to answer immediately.
It probably had something to do with his own origins.
But Skadi did not press the matter further. Instead, she simply hugged Shiomi from behind like a doll.
"Still, these are mostly details from the past," Shiomi said. "Whether they fully match the true history of this Lostbelt is hard to say. The reason we came here today is actually to ask Mr. Tepeu about this world called Mictlan. We want to gather as much useful information as possible to prepare for future exploration."
Tepeu nodded. Though he was a dinosaur, the expression he showed was clearly thoughtful.
"Mictlan is a Deinos world divided into nine layers. However, the name 'Mictlan' itself was only given recently."
"Recently?"
That caught everyone off guard.
"Yes," Tepeu said. "It was a term promoted by the leader of the Ocelomeh, Izcalli. Unfortunately, it was not a word that originated from the Deinos themselves."